Internet or WAN service providers (SPs) operate in a crowded marketplace where cost effectiveness is critical. Cost control is, however, difficult. At present internetwork bandwidth is a commodity item with extremely tight margins. If the SP wishes to provide additional value-added services such as firewalls, the SP must install and configure expensive Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) at subscriber locations. Problems that arise often require a trip by a service technician to the subscriber's location. It can be difficult to add new services.
This model of value-added service delivery creates an expensive up-front capital investment, as well as significant operational expenses that are associated with onsite installation and management of thousands of distributed devices. The results are service delivery delays, increased customer start-up costs and/or thinner service provider margins.
Service providers need a way of escape from commoditized bandwidth offerings and from traditional equipment-intensive service delivery architectures that drain profits.